Twins starter Kevin Correia throws against the Texas Rangers in the first inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Sunday April 28, 2013. Correia spread six hits over eight shutout innings in Minnesota’s 5-0 win. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

If the Twins seemed to have overpaid for Kevin Correia last winter, he has been worth every penny this spring, leading a pitching rotation that is revamped but still fragile.

After bringing a losing record from 10 seasons in the National League, he has been a revelation during the first month of his first season with the Twins, eating up innings and providing stability as fellow right-handers Mike Pelfrey and Vance Worley, coming off arm surgeries, struggle with their command.

Correia did not look like a shutdown guy when the Twins bypassed more heralded starters and signed him to a two-year, $10 million contract. They banked on the serviceable veteran to bounce back after the Pittsburgh Pirates banished him to the bullpen to make room for a prospect.

But here he is with a sterling 3-1 record, 2.23 earned-run average and staff-high 36 1/3 innings in five starts after an eight-inning, shutout victory over Texas on Sunday, April 28.

One might even call him Minnesota’s ace.

“We’re kind of watching it happen right in front of our eyes,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s just in command of the strike zone, and we’re watching it unfold. The expectations were this guy has got a proven history of big-league pitching. His record was somewhere near .500. He knows how to pitch. That’s exactly what we got.”

Correia, scheduled to start against the Indians on Saturday, May 4, in Cleveland, is the first pitcher to start his Twins career with five straight outings of at least seven innings — and the first Twin to open a season like that since Carlos Silva in 2005.

Pretty impressive considering his resume.

Here’s a guy with a 60-65 record and a 4.54 ERA with the Pirates, San Diego Padres and San Francisco Giants. Last season in Pittsburgh, he was chased after fewer than six innings in 27 of his 32 starts. Among NL starters, his ratio of 4.68 strikeouts per nine innings ranked 45th.

Minnesota’s scouts believed the 32-year-old’s command and makeup were better than his statistics. And Correia’s contract was the free-agent price to pay.

“It’s all about staying healthy and getting the work in,” Correia said this week. “I’ve played enough years to know what I need to do to be prepared for the season. I felt better and more confident after each start in the spring. I knew what I was doing before the season started.”

With a fastball that rarely touches 90 mph and an array of offspeed pitches, Correia’s control is solid, and his best work ensures infielders will be busy. He induced 13 groundball outs in Sunday’s shutout of the Rangers.

The Twins have lost one game Correia has pitched in — an April 8 quality start in Kansas City, in which he allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings of a 3-2 loss.

Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson said it is too early to anoint Correia the ace. But he compared Correia’s emergence with that of Scott Diamond, the left-hander who came up last season and stabilized the rotation.

“He wasn’t so much the leader, but every time out you knew he was going to battle and keep you in games,” Anderson said of Diamond. “As far as being a leader, I don’t think that’s (Correia). It’s a quiet approach. He’s not vocal. He recognizes hitters so well and pitches accordingly. He’s just pitching, and it’s fun to watch.”

White Sox makeup date announced

The Twins and White Sox will play a makeup game Aug. 9 in Chicago as part of a split doubleheader, the teams announced Thursday.

The teams will play a four-game series in three days Aug 9-11 at U.S. Cellular Field, including a day-night doubleheader with start times of 1:10 and 7:10 p.m.

Due to another scheduled makeup game — at 1:10 p.m. Aug. 19 against the visiting New York Mets — the Twins are now scheduled to play 18 games in 17 days from Aug. 9 through Aug. 25.

Their fourth and final postponed game from the season’s first month, April 17 at home against the Los Angeles Angels, has yet to be rescheduled.

Brian Murphy has been on the Pioneer Press sports staff since 2000, migrating from the Detroit Free Press, where he covered police, courts and sports for four years. Murphy was the Minnesota Wild/NHL beat writer from 2002 to 2008 and has covered the Vikings as a reporter and columnist since 2009. Murphy is a Detroit native and Wayne State University graduate.

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